Peeblaster to the Rescue

I haven’t been feeling well lately. It happens when ones’ head is not feeling too well either. Mind-body connection, so they say. Recently medical research has shown that 70% of ones’ immune system is actually in the gut. And there is also supposedly a gut-mind communication. Of course anyone who has puked after a severe psychological trauma knows THAT!

Since there is a relationship to bipolar disorder and inflammatory disease, and 70% of the immune system is in the gut, one can then understand the reason for the relationship a little better. So head cases come from immune deficiencies in the gut….or maybe immune deficiencies causes head cases….chicken or egg? And then there is the recent research showing that thin people have different gut flora (good bacteria) then heavy people. The thin people flora are not as efficient at extracting food. Hmmm…..so THAT is why I only lost 2 pounds when I didn’t eat for weeks.

Of course, good capitalistic society that we are, everyone is jumping on the bacteria boat. There are more bugs in pills today then what I can find in my garden bed. No wonder none of my grass clippings are breaking down, the bacteria have been stolen by these companies! My husband thinks that our medical system is the devil. Even though it saved me from cancer (not according to him) and saved him from severe pneumonia (he is silent on this) and cured our son’s respiratory condition (again, no comment). So, because “Big pharma” is evil to the core (a little, but profit is mother’s milk to capitalism, if you don’t like it, go to Russia), we have every darn essential oil and gut bug known to man.

Now, I do think that essential oils and probiotics have benefits. My mom had a nasty gut problem for months. My husband dragged out his probiotics and said for her to try them. No go. Mom knows he is a little, um, overenthusiastic, so she did not bite the apple. But, I had a good result from them from a problem I have, so I told her to try them and gave her some. Since I am a nurse, and reasonable, and their daughter, she did. And has a much happier intestinal system.

I’m sure you all are thrilled with this. I’m getting somewhere, but we are both on a meandering journey.

So, not feeling well, I have changed my diet, taken my gut bugs and still don’t feel well. I am an anti-drinker. Not alcohol (although I am not supposed to drink. one. drop.) Just fluid in general. I can ‘not drink’ until my hands are blue from dehydration and I have vertigo. So, as I well know, fluid is essential for moving body processes from one place to another. Constipated? Drink fluid. Fatigued? Drink fluid. Headache? Drink fluid. Muscle pain? Drink fluid. Most of the OTC pills aren’t needed. Just drink fluid, stop eating all the crap, hide the salt container and get some exercise. If I did all that, perhaps I would be leaping with energy. So, since I am not, I decided to drink 64 ounces of water.

No halfway trying for this chick.

I was off, had nothing to do other than compose pathetic sad poems for blog #2, so I drank. Ick. Forced is more like it. And discovered that I don’t like to drink because I don’t like to PEE. Urethra meet Niagara. And I have a small, mildly damaged bladder (thank you children and childbirth for that), which holds about 4 ounces at the max. It was filling before I even got back to my darn chair. I could have used the force as a weapon. New superhero: Peeblaster! Need your toiled unplugged? No problem, Peeblaster will be right on over. The hose won’t get that oil stain off? Im running and holding it innnnnn…… 🙂

Sidetracks are good. I am a master at it. Anyone who has had a long conversation with me on a post–or in email– knows that very well.

So I have had depression for a bit, tried healthy body stuff and no go yet. Of course I should try the water thing for a week, but honestly, pee breaks are an annoyance when I am off, and about impossible at work. There are certain procedures incompatible with pee breaks.

I think a couple of days of depression is good for one. A way for the brain to say, “Ok, had too much, it’s time for sappy romances and comfort food”. A good way to re-charge one’s batteries. But pervasive depression is another thing entirely. Something is off in the body or brain–or life. I don’t think it is always a brain thing. And, again, a recent study now links depression to an inflammatory process. Hmmmm…..depression, inflammation….GI immune system—A HA! Take some probiotics! Kidding (?) aside, if you are a little depressed, take it easy and rest. If that doesn’t work, then you may have more of a problem.

I have the dreaded bipolar disorder, but this isn’t bipolar depression. Bipolar depression is like getting sucked into the vortex of a black hole. It descends on me like a supercell, sucks me up in the tornado and spits me into the black hole. No getting out. Every-darn-second-is-intolerable. Hell in my head. I can’t see for even a minute into the future. No hope, wretched despair. Suicide looks good. Someday I will blog about it.

I am just wimpy depressed. More life issues then anything, but it is keeping a hold on me. I am not myself. So, since I seem to have an increasing problem, to the Dr I go.

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15 comments on “Peeblaster to the Rescue”

Yeah, I totally relate to your pee problem. I have a GFR of at least 2000, and since I started Lithium it’s 6000. Once when I was having problems peeing after a surgery due to narcotics, my bladder was about to burst so I begged the nurses to straight-cath me, and they were like, WTF, your IV is only running at 125. I’m like, no really, please, just humor me and do it, OK? I produced a liter and a half. In two hours. The math doesn’t add up, right? They’re like, WTF? And I’m like, TYS. I’m the I’s and O’s nightmare darkside queen. Just roll with it. And BTW leave me a cath set, I know how to effin’ do it, so I don’t have to bother you every half an hour.

HAHAHA. I had a catheter after both deliveries, had to drag it around with me! I didn’t know Lithium increased GFR! That is really hard on the kidneys. Do you dehydrate easily? Today I couldn’t drink much, and I was SO thirsty after starting a new medication. But no in=no out!

Ooh, if you started a new med that’s making you thirsty you def need to watch your I’s and O’s so you don’t dehydrate and damage your kidneys from the drug.

Yes, Li is excreted both through the kidneys and the skin, and it carries water with it from both places, so dehydration is a big problem. In Israel I get crystals on my arms if I don’t drink enough. But it’s terrible because urinary output is so huge that I have to plan my routes to include public bathrooms, and the long-range buses (which is how everyone gets around) don’t have rest rooms, so I wish I could just wear a catheter for long trips LOL

HAHAHAHA, I want a catheter at times too! Wow, you are the peeblaster queen! But what a pain in the booty to constantly have to drink and pee. People don’t realize that not only do we have to deal with BP but we also have to deal with the meds and side effects. So frustrating.

Your humor is always such a blessing even in the midst of your pain. After my stroke, I had to start drinking more water. I had a lot pee issues at first. The worst was not being able to sleep through the night because I was getting up every couple of hours to pee. My body has since gotten used to all the fluids I consume each day. I drink a lot of water, sometimes too much 🙂 I would encourage you to keep drinking the water and your body will soon adapt better and better!

I am currently a wreck–long story but my son is on drugs and I just had my safe broken into–all my important info GONE and priceless items that have been in my family for 300 years. My job is out to get me because I am on a memory patch from all the stress–I cant process to well right now. So my psychiatrist started me on an OCD med, because my coping skills are unbelievably maladaptive and I am truly one step from the loony bin. Now my mouth is so dry I cant hardly stand it–but I am drinking like a fish! 🙂

Hi Lori,
I have none of your issues only that as I get older the peeing thing is an issue for me. As are many internal organs such as kidneys. We get into a bind as I see it and you have alluded to it. We have to drink to ‘lubricate’ all the bits that need to be watered and at the same time deal with having to pee at all hours with little say in it. Thankfully in my job I can duck off to the toilet when i need to. I’ve thought of using a cork as a device to control things at night, but I guess that’s a bit desperate.

Darn those prostates! I have some weird issue, well I have a bunch, but I am always infected. Don’t know why, but when I have to go get outta my way! And as a nurse, when I am in the OR or ICU I cant really duck out–you are fortunate!

I look at my pharmacy cabinet, which is now spilling over onto the kitchen counter, and thing, jeez, what if I just quit taking all this sh*t? I’m an acupuncturist, fer cryin’ out loud! Natural medicine, right? What the eff is this all about? And then I realize two things: 1) if I stopped taking my meds I would be right back in the hospital in no time flat; and 2) God gave me these challenges for a reason, and just because I don’t happen to know the reason doesn’t mean He doesn’t, if that makes any sense. So my job is to accept this whole mess as well as I can and try not to bitch about it as much as I do….or maybe bitching about it helps me to accept it…I think so….

I do agree about adversity making a person stronger and a great witness for the power of faith! Yes, I wish I could get off of everything. I haven’t been taking anything well including my meds for inflammatory disease. It take about 30 minutes to fill my med box and I just don’t have the energy. My son broke into the locked portion of my meds (another barrier to taking them) and stole them all. So now I don’t sleep and I have no protection for meds that are dangerous in the hands of persons who don’t know what they are, doses and how to properly use them. So frustrating. Ok, this is off topic, but something terrible happened beyond the meds and I am devastated over it. I have sobbed all day. I will email you.

I’m with Diaz. I’ll be praying for you. I’m familiar with bipolar and schizophrenia. I’ll tell you how in a private email. I just don’t know what to say. I love to read your stuff. I love your candor and the way you inject humor into everything you write about. To be honest, Lori, I just want to give you a big hug and tell you I’m with you, that God will work all things out for His glory and your good. At the same time I hear stories every week from family members of those with the same afflictions as you so transparently describe. I know when you’re depressed you don’t want to hear that, but if I were there I would give you a big hug anyway. My wife has chronic depression and anxiety diagnoses and we deal with that together. It is rough on her, and me at times. I know I don’t have any answers for you, but I do have compassion for your struggles. I hope I can be an encouragement to you. I could be a peeblaster too. I know what it is to have to pee every time you go someplace. I have problems with the other end as well. Look on the bright side, peeblasters don’t stink up the place like I do sometimes. And when it isn’t solid waste driving me to the john it’s gaseous. In a crowd that can be ugly. You have my prayers as well as my compassion. You are brave and courageous and persistent in your struggles. I admire that about you a great deal. I am on your side. God bless you. May God richly bless you and give you the relief and the peace you so abundantly deserve.

🙂 I cant wait until I see your post on my upcoming “Ode to the Gas We Pass”……
I have a strong sense of humor, and that gets me through a lot, but sometimes maelstorms will arrive that suck the funny out of life. Situational depression is so hard because one doesn’t have anything to hold on to other then HOPE and PRAYER that it will pass, or make you stronger or help someone else. I am not a patient person!